Pink Elephants and Pornography

We were recently in a church that prided itself in not being the “Church of the Don’t”, meaning that the Christian life is more about what you what you DO than what you DON’T do.

I love the fact the the Christian life is not about running AWAY from something, but running TO Jesus, who we are in Him, and the abundant life that He gives us.

We started and ran a chapter of Reformers Unanimous at Vision, and saw people who, wanting to be free of their sin, focused so much on not doing something that all they thought about was what they were trying to get away from! It’s like saying, “don’t think about pink elephants! Don’t think about pink elephants!” What are you thinking about? PINK ELEPHANTS!

Proverbs 18:10 says this:

“The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

If you are running from sin in your life, you are focused on the wrong thing: focus on Jesus! Think about who He is, what He has done for you, how much He loves you, how He wants to use you, how worthy of glory from your life He is.

This is from Eric Dye’s blog, and is a fantastic way to focus on the right things:

40 Positive Reasons to Avoid Pornography:

I fully enjoy the pleasure of my love relationship with Christ.
I fulfill my true identity as a child of God.
I experience God’s provision of empowering grace.
I enjoy my freedom in Christ to its fullest.
I avoid a life-pattern of deception.
I cultivate a soft and sensitive conscience.
I turn away from the solicitation of harlots in my heart.
I refuse the temptation of idolatry.
I prove to be a faithful steward of my money.
I prove to be a faithful steward of my time.
I abstain from any promotion and support of the pornography industry.
I preserve God’s gift of loving sexual expression for its intended purpose.
I protect the purity and power of my God-given imagination.
I develop disciplined character.
I guard the integrity of my Christian testimony.
I promote health and harmony in the body of Christ.
I cultivate a stronger resistance to future interpersonal sexual sin.
I nurture the proper biblical view of the sanctity of womanhood.
I relate to women as equals and persons of ultimate worth.
I learn to live in reality rather than fantasy.
I steer clear of unnecessary personal guilt and shame.
I cultivate a lifestyle of contentment and satisfaction.
I experience the blessing of living as a servant
I learn the relational skills of authentic intimacy.
I avoid future mental, emotional and spiritual scars on my life.
I experience the joy of the Christian life.
I lay up eternal rewards.
I learn to deal with the causes of my problems rather than treating symptoms.
I prevent potential temptations for others in my sphere of influence.
I honor the trust and prayer support of those who have invested in my spiritual life.
I avoid adultery in my heart.
I encourage my wife’s/future wife’s trust.
I honor my vow/future vow of marital purity and faithfulness.
I keep my marriage/future marriage union pure from fantasies of other women.
I communicate acceptance and honor toward my wife/future wife.
I avoid the pathway that could easily result in infidelity/future infidelity.
I minimize the risk of my children/future children from being exposed to pornography.
I model strong and genuine moral values for my children/future children.
I avoid embarrassing and embittering my children/future children.
I encourage all of the above positive qualities in my children’s/future children’s lives.

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